Roche Diagnostics to invest 3b yuan in massive Suzhou expansion project

Roche Diagnostics Suzhou signed an investment agreement with the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee on Wednesday, announcing it would invest 3 billion yuan (US$420 million) to expand its existing site in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The site expansion, which will be completed and go into use in 2028, will focus on constructing new plants for reagent and instrument production and the localization of the manufacturing of key diagnostic products, in line with future business requirements.

Company officials said the site expansion reaffirms Roche Diagnostics' commitment to providing innovative diagnostics solutions for Chinese patients that enable earlier and better detection and monitoring of disease.

Marco Cairoli, general manager of Roche Diagnostics Asia Manufacturing and R&D Site, said: "Roche Diagnostics Suzhou has been able to continuously leverage its core strengths and established strong end-to-end capabilities for R&D, manufacturing, and supply chain. This site expansion will further enable market access in China and secure sustainable supply in China and parts of Asia-Pacific.

“We have already successfully localized over 120 of innovative products for both reagents & instruments. By 2030, the number of products will reach over 400 for supplying China and parts of Asia-Pacific."

Roche Diagnostics has been steadily expanding its presence in China. The company established its first manufacturing site in Suzhou in 2015 and launched its Clinical Chemistry and Immunochemistry reagents manufacturing operations and research and development center in 2018.

In 2020, the Roche Diagnostics Systems Reagents Manufacturing Plant was built. The manufacturing of Polymerase Chain Reaction sample collection and tissue diagnosis reagents products was introduced in 2021. In 2023, a new instrument manufacturing plant was officially opened, which allows Roche Diagnostics to further strengthen its value chain and expand its portfolio in China.

Richard Yiu, general manager of Roche Diagnostics China, said the past two-decade development of the company here shows its strong confidence in China, which has always been a strategically important market for Roche.

"For more than 20 years, we have been committed to the 'in China, for China' strategy, and have continuously invested in local innovation, R&D, and manufacturing," Yiu said. "By expanding our product portfolio, our value chain, we have developed innovative solutions customized for Chinese patients. This represents a strategic transformation from being a 'product introducer' to a 'local innovation driver'."

To meet the unique needs of the Chinese market, Roche Diagnostics has leveraged its global resources and local R&D capabilities to launch the first domestically-developed innovative product, Elecsys CA 242 assay, in April 2024.

"Through the entire process of localized product design, development, production, validation, registration, and commercialization, we deepen the value chain layout to support efficacy monitoring and comprehensive management of gastrointestinal malignancies such as pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer," Yiu added.